After months of speculation and dragging sales, Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced yet another price drop for their PS3 console. This comes in two forms. The first, is the newly announced 40GB PS3 system. This unit will be available November 2nd and will come bundled with 3 Blu-ray movies and carry a price of $399 USD.

Consumers beware however, the lower price tag carries some other differences from the other PS3 systems as well. The system comes with two fewer USB slots and also removes the multi-card reader. While the previously announced 80GB PS3 had limited PS2 backwards compatibility, the 40GB PS3 has absolutely NO backwards compatibility at all. While the upside to this is that the 80GB PS3 has lowered the price tag down to $499, even that solution only provides partial backwards compatibility similar to the Xbox 360.

Gamers that are still interested in backwards compatibility for PS2 titles will want to try to get their hands on the original 60GB PS3 units that have been available since launch day. These systems provide full backwards compatibility for PS2 titles. Currently the 60GB PS3 can still be obtained for $499 USD, but as they aren’t being manufactured anymore in favor of these newer, cheaper to produce PS3’s, you’ll have to get them while they’re hot.